Sioux

Sioux, one of the great families of the North American Indians, whose chief divisions are given under DAKOTAS (q.v.). fo these must be added the Omahas, Poncas, Kaws (Kansas), Osages, Quapaws, Iowas, Otoes, Missouri, Winnebagos, and Mandans, all now removed to reservations in Nebraska, Indian Territory, Kansas, and Dakota. Total population (1890), 43,400, of whom about 2,200 are in British North America, the rest in the United States. The term "Sioux," now applied under the form Siouan to the whole family, is a Franco-Canadian mutilation of the Algonquin word "nadowe-ssi-wag" ("the snake-like ones," "the enemies."). (Powell, Indian Linguistic Families, Washington, 1891.)